Cancer Patient Upset Over Hat Ban At Roller Skating Rink

VERNON — Janna Lombardo of South Windsor is battling breast cancer. She's enduring chemotherapy and the hair loss that comes with it.

So she didn't take it well when told she couldn't wear a hat at the roller rink she went to Monday with her children.

"I have no hair," Lombardo said Tuesday. "It's embarrassing."

Lombardo went to Ron-A-Roll Skating Center with her two children — Alex, 9, and Nora, 7 — two friends and their children. It was Columbus Day, and the kids were off from school.

She was stopped at the entrance and told, "No hats," she said.

She told them she wouldn't be skating, but that didn't matter to the 40-something man at the counter, she said. She explained her situation, and even pulled out a clump of her hair, but the man showed no emotion, she said. She was told she could wear a helmet.

She lost it.

"I was angry," she said. "I did scream at them."

Eventually, she gave up.

"I left," she said. "I went to my car and cried."

The other moms summoned their children — some of whom had started skating — and they all went out for pizza. Lombardo has been urging her friends on Facebook to boycott the rink.

Though disappointed, she wasn't entirely surprised by what happened. She had heard about the 2010 controversy over the roller rink's requirement that two Muslim women either remove their traditional head scarves or cover them with helmets.

The rink prohibits hats for safety reasons, according to a written statement emailed to The Courant on behalf of the owner, Jason Seplowitz.

"Our rules, which we firmly stand behind, are in place in an effort to prevent potential risk of injury to patrons of our facility. Roller skating is a strenuous and fast moving sport, like in any other sport if the rules are not enforced people get hurt," it states.

"Our policies are posted on our website, in our lobby, announced over the PA system and on most of our fliers in the hope that incidents like this can be avoided. The only head wear we allow are helmets because they are secured with a chin strap and designed for safety. We do not allow head wear because if it fell off it would be a tripping hazard."

"Safety is our first priority and therefore, our rules can not be bent, nor exceptions be made. Helmets are offered to customers so that this safety requirement is met. The roller skating industry is not the only type venue that has rules in place, many other amusement places and family entertainment centers have rules for the safety of their patrons."

A friend of Seplowitz's said the rink's insurance policy requires the ban.